- Joined
- Apr 21, 2009
- Messages
- 5,647
- Reaction score
- 1,822
Offline
Here's a look back at some Bills and Saints history and trivia. Hope you enjoy:
New Orleans and Buffalo first played each other in the opening game of the 1971 preseason at Buffalo's War Memorial Stadium. This was Archie Manning's first game ever as a Saint. He saw action late in the game. The starter was Ed Hargett. The Bills won 14-10. Their QBs were Dennis Shaw and James Harris (from Grambling). Kicker Tom Dempsey, the Saints hero from 1970, made 1 field goal, but missed several others. By the end of the preseason, he was off the squad. Like I've mentioned before, Dempsey was featured on the cover of the 1971 Saints Media Guide (photo of his 63-yard kick against the Lions), but he never played a regular season game for the Saints after 1970. Some PR move, right?
Buffalo's War Memorial Stadium was generally considered one of the worst stadiums in the old AFL. The Bills actually played there through 1972. Lost Treasures of NFL Films did an episode on the old AFL and featured stories about the old stadium. Any film buffs on Saints Report? Well, the baseball scenes for the movie, "The Natural" (1983, Redford) were filmed at War Memorial Stadium. In addition to housing the Bills, it had been a minor league baseball stadium. The stadium was torn down nearly 20 years ago. The Bills moved into their new stadium at Orchard Park in 1973.
The Saints and Bills first played against each other in a regular season game in 1973. The Saints gained their first-ever shutout, defeating O.J. Simpson and the Bills, 13-0. Simpson was held to 79 yards rushing, his second-lowest game total of the season. He went on to rush for over 2,000 yards in 1973. The Bills QB that day was Louisiana native Joe Ferguson. In back-to-back weeks, the '73 Saints beat Washington and Buffalo. This was the same team that lost it's first 2 games of the season, 62-7 and 40-3, and had lost 40-0 to the 49'ers just 2 weeks before.
Simpson's USC teammate, Al Cowlings, was the Bills first-round draft pick in 1970 (remember the driver of the white Bronco?). Simpson had been the Bills first-round pick (and the first pick of the draft) in 1969. Unlike Simpson, Cowlings never played up to his potential in the NFL and was a journeyman DL and LB for several teams.
Lou Saban coached the Bills during 2 separate tenures. He coached Buffalo to AFL championships in 1964 and 1965. He then left to coach at the University of Maryland, and then the Denver Broncos. He returned as HC of the Bills in 1972 and stayed through early 1976. He's the coach who was credited with turning O.J. Simpson's pro career around after a disappointing start. If you've ever watched any of the old NFL Films where the coaches are wired, you probably know about Saban ("they're killing me, Whitey ... there're killing me!) No, he's not related to Nick ... Lou Saban passed away less than a year ago.
Marv Levy is best remembered as coaching the Bills to 4 straight Super Bowl appearances and 4 straight losses. Levy started coaching in the NFL as a special teams coach, mainly under George Allen. Levy coached 2 championship teams in the CFL with the Montreal Alouettes (1974 and 1977). He won the Grey Cup twice, but couldn't get the Bills to win a Super Bowl. He and Bud Grant share the distinction of being both NFL and CFL Hall of Fame coaches. Unfortunately, each of them lost 4 Super Bowls.
Remember John Fourcade's first start as a Saints QB (not counting the replacement games)? It was in snowy Buffalo in 1989. Fourcade led the Saints to a win over the playoff bound Bills. In fact, Fourcade led the Saints to 3 straight victories at the end of the 1989 season. You would think that would be good. However, in retrospect, it triggered the Bobby Hebert holdout and the disastrous Steve Walsh trade in 1990.
Former Saints coach Jim Haslett was a 2nd round draft choice of Buffalo back in 1979. He played several seasons as a starting linebacker, mainly under HCs Chuck Knox and Kay Stephenson.
One of the Saints most disappointing losses during the Bum Phillips era came in 1983 at Buffalo. Joe Ferguson, the regular Bills QB was injured, so the Bills went with untested QB Matt Kofler, from San Diego State. Kofler led the Bills to a victory ... probably his first and last as an NFL quarterback. The Saints finished the season 1 game short of a winning record and the playoffs.
The Saints opened the 2001 NFL regular season at Buffalo. The Bills' new coach was Gregg Williams ... yes, the same Gregg Williams. The Saints won the game, and one of the heroes was, hold your noses if you like, WR Albert Connell. He caught a long touchdown pass to put the game away for NO. Williams lasted 3 seasons as HC in Buffalo. Ironically, he succeeded former Saints DC and Bum's son, Wade Phillips, as HC in Buffalo.
That's all for this week. Go, Saints, Go.
New Orleans and Buffalo first played each other in the opening game of the 1971 preseason at Buffalo's War Memorial Stadium. This was Archie Manning's first game ever as a Saint. He saw action late in the game. The starter was Ed Hargett. The Bills won 14-10. Their QBs were Dennis Shaw and James Harris (from Grambling). Kicker Tom Dempsey, the Saints hero from 1970, made 1 field goal, but missed several others. By the end of the preseason, he was off the squad. Like I've mentioned before, Dempsey was featured on the cover of the 1971 Saints Media Guide (photo of his 63-yard kick against the Lions), but he never played a regular season game for the Saints after 1970. Some PR move, right?
Buffalo's War Memorial Stadium was generally considered one of the worst stadiums in the old AFL. The Bills actually played there through 1972. Lost Treasures of NFL Films did an episode on the old AFL and featured stories about the old stadium. Any film buffs on Saints Report? Well, the baseball scenes for the movie, "The Natural" (1983, Redford) were filmed at War Memorial Stadium. In addition to housing the Bills, it had been a minor league baseball stadium. The stadium was torn down nearly 20 years ago. The Bills moved into their new stadium at Orchard Park in 1973.
The Saints and Bills first played against each other in a regular season game in 1973. The Saints gained their first-ever shutout, defeating O.J. Simpson and the Bills, 13-0. Simpson was held to 79 yards rushing, his second-lowest game total of the season. He went on to rush for over 2,000 yards in 1973. The Bills QB that day was Louisiana native Joe Ferguson. In back-to-back weeks, the '73 Saints beat Washington and Buffalo. This was the same team that lost it's first 2 games of the season, 62-7 and 40-3, and had lost 40-0 to the 49'ers just 2 weeks before.
Simpson's USC teammate, Al Cowlings, was the Bills first-round draft pick in 1970 (remember the driver of the white Bronco?). Simpson had been the Bills first-round pick (and the first pick of the draft) in 1969. Unlike Simpson, Cowlings never played up to his potential in the NFL and was a journeyman DL and LB for several teams.
Lou Saban coached the Bills during 2 separate tenures. He coached Buffalo to AFL championships in 1964 and 1965. He then left to coach at the University of Maryland, and then the Denver Broncos. He returned as HC of the Bills in 1972 and stayed through early 1976. He's the coach who was credited with turning O.J. Simpson's pro career around after a disappointing start. If you've ever watched any of the old NFL Films where the coaches are wired, you probably know about Saban ("they're killing me, Whitey ... there're killing me!) No, he's not related to Nick ... Lou Saban passed away less than a year ago.
Marv Levy is best remembered as coaching the Bills to 4 straight Super Bowl appearances and 4 straight losses. Levy started coaching in the NFL as a special teams coach, mainly under George Allen. Levy coached 2 championship teams in the CFL with the Montreal Alouettes (1974 and 1977). He won the Grey Cup twice, but couldn't get the Bills to win a Super Bowl. He and Bud Grant share the distinction of being both NFL and CFL Hall of Fame coaches. Unfortunately, each of them lost 4 Super Bowls.
Remember John Fourcade's first start as a Saints QB (not counting the replacement games)? It was in snowy Buffalo in 1989. Fourcade led the Saints to a win over the playoff bound Bills. In fact, Fourcade led the Saints to 3 straight victories at the end of the 1989 season. You would think that would be good. However, in retrospect, it triggered the Bobby Hebert holdout and the disastrous Steve Walsh trade in 1990.
Former Saints coach Jim Haslett was a 2nd round draft choice of Buffalo back in 1979. He played several seasons as a starting linebacker, mainly under HCs Chuck Knox and Kay Stephenson.
One of the Saints most disappointing losses during the Bum Phillips era came in 1983 at Buffalo. Joe Ferguson, the regular Bills QB was injured, so the Bills went with untested QB Matt Kofler, from San Diego State. Kofler led the Bills to a victory ... probably his first and last as an NFL quarterback. The Saints finished the season 1 game short of a winning record and the playoffs.
The Saints opened the 2001 NFL regular season at Buffalo. The Bills' new coach was Gregg Williams ... yes, the same Gregg Williams. The Saints won the game, and one of the heroes was, hold your noses if you like, WR Albert Connell. He caught a long touchdown pass to put the game away for NO. Williams lasted 3 seasons as HC in Buffalo. Ironically, he succeeded former Saints DC and Bum's son, Wade Phillips, as HC in Buffalo.
That's all for this week. Go, Saints, Go.